Events

Please join us for the first visiting writers reading of 2013 with Sallie Tisdale and Greg Martin.

Local author Sallie Tisdale has published seven books of nonfiction and is a frequent contributor to periodicals including Tricycle and Harper’s. She has been a faculty member with Portland State’s Haystack Summer Program in the Arts.

Greg Martin, a professor at the University of New Mexico, has recently published a memoir, Stories for Boys, with the Portland-based press Hawthorne Books.

About the PSU MFA in Creative Writing Program: Located in the urban center of one of the most vibrantly literary cities in the country, our program provides emerging writers with opportunities for creative and intellectual exploration while working closely with a faculty of prominent writers.

The MFA degree offers an intensive program of writing in small, core workshops and seminars taught by established writers. In workshop, students engage in close readings and critiques of their peer’s work, while in seminars the focus may be on a formal element, regional tradition, historical period, the works of a seminal writer or two, or a literary movement.

Prospective students apply to the genre in which they wish to work: fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Core workshops are taken in the student’s primary genre, while writing electives allow students to explore other genres. The degree requirements are also integrated with the M.A. in English curriculum so that students work with a highly accomplished faculty in literature, critical theory, and rhetoric and composition. The MFA emphasizes faculty mentorship throughout each student's coursework and thesis completion. Consistent with PSU's mandate to serve our city's cultural and professional needs, engagement in Portland's vibrant local community of writers is central to our students' movement from academic to creative careers.